Islam Times - A leading Bahraini human rights activist has gone on hunger strike in protest against the torture and ill-treatment at the hands of the Manama regime.

Salam for Democracy and Human Rights said that detained Ibtisam Al-Saegh, member in Salam, launched a hunger strike against torture and maltreatment she was subjected to in the Criminal Investigation Department following her arrest.

The organization stressed that Al-Saegh was subjected to torture and maltreatment in the Criminal Investigation building and that her health is deteriorating, indicating that she has been held in solitary confinement since her arrest.

Salam added "Al-Saegh was denied her right to meet her lawyer and family," expressing grave concerns over her wellbeing.

Manama regime officials imposed a travel ban on the human rights advocate last June and prevented her from attending the 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council in the Swiss city of Geneva.

The repressive Bahraini regime once again detained her for the second time in two months amid a crackdown on dissent in the tiny Persian Gulf island kingdom.

Front Line Defenders said that the Bahraini human rights activist Al-Saegh was sexually assualted while being interrogated in the National Security Agency building (the Intelligence) on Friday (May 26, 2017).

The NGO said Al-Saegh was tortured and was sexually assaulted by the interrogators in the National Security Agency in Muharraq. She was also subjected to verbal abuse, and interrogators threatened to rape her if she did not put an end to her human rights activities.

Anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country on February 14, 2011. People have been demanding that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and a just system representing all Bahrainis be established.

Many people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or been arrested, illegally detained and brutally tortured while many have seen their citizenship revoked. In March 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — themselves repressive Arab regimes — were deployed to aid Bahrain in its brutal crackdown.